Mark Glover's blog includes reviews of the latest motor vehicles introduced for sale in the United States, his take on various aspects of the auto industry and periodic insights on auto racing at home and abroad.

They praised
the practical size of the Rogue.And in
the next breath, they talked about the generous cargo space when the rear
seats were properly folded.

The 2.5-liter,
four-cylinder, 170-horsepower engine was no screamer, but it moved the Rogue
about with authority in virtually all conditions.

It has sporty
styling that is instantly recognizable as SUV-worthy, with nicely cut angles
here and there that offer up the promise of sporty maneuvers.

In sum, it’s
an utterly functional sport-ute that starts in the $25,000 ballpark and moves
up from there -- $35,475 on my super-loaded tester.

Fuel mileage,
by the way, is quite good at 25 miles per gallon in the city and 32 mpg on the
highway.

When the Rogue
made its debut in the 2008 model year, it was touted as a sweet match for young
folks.It even made appearances in TV
shows, hammering home that theme.

Thing is,
older motorists liked it as well, which is why the Rogue has been a pleasantly
robust best-seller for the Nissan in the United States.

The mass
appeal is easy to understand. The Rogue is generously equipped, and the option
packages are equally attractive.

My tester’s
comfort/convenience features lineup included a nine-speaker Bose sound system,
an around-vehicle monitor, a moving object-detection system, leather seating
surfaces (ditto the steering wheel and shift knob), a remote engine-start
system, a motion-activated liftgate and a clever cargo system that included
moveable components.Oh, LED daytime
running lights, heated exterior mirrors and those so-very-useful roof rails
were part of the standard package.

My ride was
dressed up options that included a power panoramic moonroof, 19-inch alloy
wheels, intelligent cruise control and a pair of lane departure-warning
systems.Quite the road trip package,
this one.

And it was a
nimble dodger in crazy downtown traffic, where no lane change is ever
accompanied by a turn signal.

The “just
right” characteristics of the tested Rogue were so pleasant that, if I was
footloose and fancy free and inclined to take a weeklong road trip on an hour’s
notice, I’d likely put the Rogue at the top of my list as my vehicle of choice.

Sacramento, California – Here’s the
thing about driving a primo Cadillac Escalade sport-utility vehicle wearing
dark-colored paint: You get out of it and people are surprised that you’re not
wearing a bullet-resistant FBI vest or opening the rear door for the governor
or some other high-ranking public official.

Yeah,
stereotypes.Gotta love ’em.

But frankly,
the Escalade has earned those stripes in every way over the years.It is the quintessential big brute luxury
transporter, and if you have to travel in big style, this is your ride.

In my case,
the 2017 Cadillac Escalade 4WD Premium Luxury tester wore a sticker with a
bottom line of $94,130.Yes, I’m
serious.

That’s about a
thousand bucks short of what I paid for my home when I moved to California in 1984.

To be fair,
you get a lot.Fuel mileage is not on
that list, however, coming in at 15 miles per gallon in the city and 20 mpg on
the highway (premium fuel is recommended, but not required).

Beyond that,
the perks are nothing short of astounding.

There’s the
16-speaker Bose Surround-Sound audio system. There are 12-way power-adjustable
seats. Heating and cooling are to be had in the front bucket leather seats.
Seats can be folded via power (folding everything gives you a cavernous 121
cubic feet of cargo space). There’s a rear-seat entertainment system, of
course.Climate can be controlled in
three zones.The power tilt/sliding
sunroof is easy to use; ditto the hands-free power liftgate.Automatic park assist is there for nervous
parallel parkers.

I could go on
and on, but you’d be reading all night.For the record, the list of safety and driving-enhancement features is
just as long as the list of comfort/convenience highlights.

This is a big
vehicle, riding on 22-inch wheels.I had
to make a plan to climb up into the driver’s seat.Smaller folks might need your help
vaulting into the passenger leather bucket seats.

From the
cockpit, I felt like I was sitting in an elevated command center, yards higher
than the surrounding traffic.

The tester was
so big that I had to take care driving it.I allowed plenty of space between my Escalade and the vehicle ahead of
me in stop-and-go freeway commutes.It’s
not that the tester’s four-wheel disc brakes lacked grip – they were
exceptional, actually – but you can feel every ounce of the Escalade’s nearly
6,000-pound curb weight when you’re on the move.

The 6.2-liter
V-8 engine rated at 420 horsepower doesn’t have any trouble getting that weight
going mind you.It does that quite well,
which is why you need to be careful.The
big vehicle can be going 70 miles per hour before you know it, and the smooth
ride makes it feel like 50 mph.

So, there you
have it: Luxury, performance and head-turning presence in a single
package.For those who can afford the
ride, I salute you.

Please
understand that we’re talking about a pricey piece of hardware here – $64,850
to start and $69,055 on the tester.Luxury sedan, check.

Performance?Yup, also there in spades.

The tester was
driven by a 5.6-liter V-8 pumping out a max 416 horsepower and 414 foot-pounds
of torque.Mashing the accelerator on
the Q70L delivered a satisfying engine roar and a heart-racing run-up through
the seven-speed automatic transmission.

The car’s a
terrific road cruiser, but the enthusiastic power plant allows the driver to
fulfill some road warrior fantasies without going off the reservation.The tester also came equipped with a manual
shift mode, by the way.

OK, fuel
mileage suffers amid all that power, coming in at a tepid 16 miles per gallon
in the city and 24 mpg on the highway.

I’m assuming
most Q70 buyers have the kind of coin to disregard gas costs, the better to
enjoy the luxury/comfort/convenience features to be found on this ride.

The tester
came with multiple LED lighting features, leather/climate-controlled/10-way
power front seats, a heated steering wheel, Japanese Ash wood interior trim,
power sliding/tinted glass moonroof, heated rear seats, a super-sophisticated
navigation system, a Bose audio system with 10 speakers and enough
safety/security features to qualify for recognition from the United Nations.

The tester had
some subtle driving-assist features that drew my attention but did not come off
as annoying – a pleasant plus in this era of overly sensitive driver-warning
systems.

Handling was
excellent, even on tight city streets.

Brakes were
exceptional, part of a “Premium Select Edition” package that included sport
brakes with four-piston front and two-piston rear calipers.

Those brakes
came to my rescue in the SacramentoInternationalAirport
parking garage, where a careless driver suddenly darted across the bow of my
Infiniti.As it was happening, the words
“unavoidable crash” flashed through my mind, but my ride stopped on a dime and
avoided a costly crunch by maybe six inches.

There are
times when you thank the car for bailing you out.This was one of those times.

Overall, my
Q70L 5.6 sedan was a solid B-plus or A-minus of a luxury sedan, a good grade in a field
of crowded competitors from all over the world.

This
review first appeared in the May 2017 edition of theNorthern & Central
California Cruisin’ Newspublished
out of Folsom, California – mg

Sacramento,California– While they’re close cousins sharing
plenty of DNA, there are differences between power and performance.

Power, as in that put out by a motor
vehicle’s engine, is pretty straightforward, with specific measurements as you
run up through the engine revs.

Performance is a more nuanced.

Performance can gently press you deep into
your driver’s seat or snap your neck in such a way as to create pain that
lingers for a day.And some cars have
what I call freeze-frame performance.That’s where the car’s acceleration and movements are so abrupt that
everything surrounding the car appears to freeze in place.

Those of you who remember the old “Six
Million Dollar Man” TV series know what I’m talking about.Ditto if you watch current TV episodes of
“The Flash.”

The extensively reworked for 2017 Audi A4
has freeze-frame performance.Or to be
precise, I experienced it in my tester: the 2017 Audi A4 2.0T Quattro S
tronic.Got that?Good.

What most of that means is that my ride had
a 2-liter, turbocharged, four-cylinder engine with 252 horsepower and 273
foot-pounds of torque linked to a seven-speed S tronic transmission and a very sophisticated
all-wheel drive system.

Now those aren’t spectacular numbers or
unique features, but the way the A4 employs them gets the heart racing.

Acceleration from a standing start is pretty
exciting, but the real blast comes when the A4 is asked for more at, say,
freeway speed.Traveling among a group
of cars at around 60 miles per hour, an added tap on the accelerator sends the
Audi into freeze-frame mode.It just
sprints away from everything, and everything else appears to be super-glued to
the pavement.

What a rush!Naturally, I repeated this move numerous times over my week in the
car.It never ceased to amaze me.Just for the record, Motor Trend magazine
tested the A4 2.0T at 5.4 seconds in the zero-to-60-mph run.So believe us, the performance is there.

Beyond that, the A4 sedan is a luxury liner
stuffed with enjoyable comfort/convenience features and state-of-the-art
technology.

Standard perks on my tester included LED
lighting inside and out, a power sunroof, three-zone digital climate control
and a keyless engine stop/start system.

The starting price of the tested A4 2.0T was
$39,400, but it was dressed up with packages that swelled the sticker’s bottom
line to $51,575.The extras included a
“Prestige” package that included heated/auto-dimming/power folding exterior
mirrors, a blazing surround-sound audio system and a full color head-up
display.

Exterior styling is sleek, but elegantly understated
– just the right note for a luxury sedan.

And for all its performance, the fuel
mileage ratings were an impressive 24 miles per gallon in the city and 31 mpg
on the highway.

Y

ou’d think that with all that luxury and
years of engineering genius that they could place the front cupholders in a
smart spot.Instead, they’re flush
against the bottom of the center stack of controls, meaning you’re out of luck
if you have anything more than a small plastic coffee cup.

That’s a minor gripe for an Audi A4 that is
otherwise an A-grade car all the way.

Tuesday, June 6, 2017

Check out my review of the performance-loaded 2017 Ford Fusion V6 Sport sedan in the latest, June 2017, edition of theNorthern & Central California Cruisin’ News, published out of Folsom,California, by John Sweeney and Evonne Sotelo.The “Hot Laps” reviews, along with my "Oil Drips" observations on anything with wheels, appear monthly in the publication.

To subscribe to the Cruisin’ News, visitwww.cruisinnews.com, call (916) 933-0949 or send an e-mail request to cruisinnews@mac.com. Mailed requests for information should be sent to Cruisin’ News,P.O. Box1096, Folsom, CA 95763-1096.

Thursday, June 1, 2017

Sacramento, California -- In this tale
of two hybrid sedans, the buyer comes out a winner in either case.It’s just a matter of how much you want to
spend.

I tested the
2017 Toyota Camry Hybrid XLE (pictured) and the 2017 Lexus ES 300h,
respectively, over two consecutive weeks, and frankly, it was difficult to
favor one over the other.That’s saying
something given that the bottom line on the Lexus was a hefty $48,415, or
$12,000 more than $36,351 on the Toyota.

The Camry’s
monster-selling characteristics were fully evident in my ride, with generous
comfort/convenience features, excellent safety ratings and a 2.5-liter,
four-cylinder engine nicely assisted by an electric “Hybrid Synergy Drive” system.Yes, you’re paying some for the hybrid
technology, but 40 miles per gallon in the city and 37 mpg on the highway feels
pretty good.

Road manners
on the Camry were exceptional, and the hybrid propulsion system demonstrated
admirable oomph when asked.

My Camry was
loaded up with an incredibly long list of extra goodies, including illuminated
door sill enhancements. It was all very nice, but the basic XLE with hybrid technology
stood tall on its own.

My Camry was
dressed up with a wide assortment of communication/audio perks, and even though
the Camry has been around for seven generations now, it’s hard to imagine a
young motorist walking away from this tech-ready ride.

Moving to the
Lexus ES 300h demonstrated to me that the two sedans shared similar charms, but this
being a Lexus, there were subtle things that stood out.The ride seemed a bit smoother, a bit
firmer.Fit and finish was more
perfect.The solid “ka-chunk” of closing
the driver’s side door spoke of a solid, sure-footed machine.

I was somewhat
surprised to see that the Lexus hybrid got a little better fuel mileage than
the Camry, coming in at 40 miles per gallon in the city and 39 mpg on the
highway.

The Lexus
stood out for its lengthy list of safety features, which included “smart stop”
technology, intelligent high beam headlights and a pre-collision system.

The tester
featured a silky-smooth, quiet freeway presence, with a strong response when it
came time to zip around weekday commute pokes.

Again, it
comes down to money.

The Camry
radiates reliable performance and long-haul comfort for a relatively affordable
price, given its hybrid technology.The
Lexus, appropriately, is more of a luxury liner.And it shows.

Performance
history indicates that both will run forever, creating zero or very few surprise
trips to the service center over the years.Tough
choice, but both are safe bets.

Auto Enthusiasts

About

Mark Glover has been a professional journalist for 40 years. Since 1984, he has worked for The Sacramento Bee in California's capital city. He was the paper's auto editor from 2000-08, reviewing hundreds of motor vehicles during that time. His reviews currently appear at sacbee.com and in the Northern & Central California Cruisin' News published monthly out of Folsom, California. He is a former director on the board of the California Autombile Museum in Sacramento. A lifelong auto racing fan, Glover has attended the Indianapolis 500 since 1961. He has an extensive Indy 500 collection of programs, tickets and badges.